Asus goes small on aluminium, big on Bamboo

Cebit Asus showcased its fourth generation Eee at Cebit today, along with its bamboo-cased business laptops and a series of gaming laptops with two of everything.

The Taiwanese motherboard maker turned netbook evangelist brought its usual unique approach to launching technology, with a German model type walking its latest offerings around a conference room.

Asus chairman Jonney Shih unveiled its fourth generation Eee PC, the 1018P, which he described as the ultimate thin and light device. The 1018P has an aluminium case wrapped around an Intel Atom processor.

Shih also waxed lyrical about the properties of bamboo as a packaging material, pointing out that it could stand higher pressure than steel, and even some alloys.

Its looks were a selling point too, he insisted, as the obligatory Asus girl delivered the latest U Series Bamboo notebook to the state.

"The most beautiful girl, with the most beautiful of bamboo solutions," he enthused.

The firm also showcased gaming PCs, including the G73 laptop, which the firm says is inspired by stealth fighters. Shih said the device had "a dual fan system in the backside so you feel very cool."

Shih also showed off a high end gaming system, the ARES, packing two Radeon HD5870s.

Not shown at today's press conference but being shown on the floor at the show is the firm's ereader, a nine inch screen device which Asus says can serve up 20 400-page novels on a single charge. ®